IPL 2018: How Jasprit Bumrah set up a six-wicket victory for Mumbai Indians against Kings XI Punjab

There was a smattering of live grass on the 22 yards at the Holkar Cricket Stadium. The ideal plan on such pitches is to bowl full and induce an edge. Jasprit Bumrah tried the same on his first ball but KL Rahul dispatched it for a six. Then, Bumrah’s plan changed and so did Mumbai Indians’ fortunes. Mumbai Indians were aware that the bulk of Punjab’s scoring this season has been done by Chris Gayle and KL Rahul, so keeping them quiet was necessary. So MI had a clear strategy of bowling slower balls and changing the pace of the ball to thwart the most explosive openers in this year’s IPL. The tactic worked; in fact, Bumrah, who has troubled Gayle in the past too, set up the southpaw beautifully in his first over. [caption id=“attachment_4457127” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Jasprit Bumrah in action against Kings XI Punjab.
SPORTZPICS[/caption] The field had been set up for a short delivery — a deep square leg and fine leg were deployed — but Bumrah bluffed for four continuous balls. A perfectly executed yorker was followed by two slower length balls. Thinking that a bumper has to come on the final ball, Gayle stayed on his back foot. But Bumrah bowled a length delivery and kept it outside off — Gayle edged it but it fell short of the slip fielder. Mumbai were ahead of Punjab as far as the mind games were concerned. Mitchell McClenaghan followed suit and didn’t give any pace to the Punjab openers. It was only when Hardik Pandya tried to be funky in the fourth over that Punjab cut loose and played the ‘fearless brand of cricket’ they want to be known for. Adaptability on this small ground — which is a perfect platform to smash all kinds of T20 batting records — was key. Mumbai had chased down 199 at this very ground in the 16th over in the previous season. So, they were aware that defending a score would be extremely difficult, more so when one takes into consideration how deep they bat. Given what was at stake — a loss would’ve resulted in an early exit for Mumbai in this tournament — restricting Punjab to a low score was equally vital. And that is just what they did. “It is a difficult ground to bowl, I gave away a six on the first ball and then I realised this is a challenging wicket and I need to vary my pace,” Bumrah said after the first innings. This immediate understanding of altering the plans is what set up the foundation for a six-wicket victory for the Mumbai Indians. Barring a horrid last over from Hardik, they finished well too, once again thanks to Bumrah and his exceptional death bowling. The Gujarat pacer returned in the 17th over and sent Axar Patel, who was promoted up the order to attack Krunal Pandya, back to the hut cheaply and made a mockery of Punjab’s plans. His next over — the penultimate one of the innings — went for only six runs. He returned figures of 1/19 and bowled 11 valuable dots. He also ended up with the best economy rate of the match — 4.75. The 175 chase should’ve been a cakewalk for Mumbai Indians but they put themselves under pressure due to a slow start. Probably, that was their plan as they bat deep. But the task was cut out for Rohit Sharma and Krunal in the death overs. However, they consolidated on the platform set by Suryakumar Yadav and chased down the target in 19 overs. Suryakumar, a batsman, was adjudged the Man of the Match. This is not a new phenomenon in cricket; batsmen often hog all the limelight. But Mumbai would know who won them this match. Perhaps, Bumrah should thank Rahul for slamming his first ball for a six?